The Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust (RGCT), a registered, not-for-profit organisation, was established in 2002 to address the development needs of the underprivileged of the country, especially the rural poor. The Trust's strategic objectives have been shaped by the vision of Shri Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India, of implementing programmes that have sustainable impact and are instrumental in transforming the lives of the poor. RGCT presently works in the poorest regions of Uttar Pradesh, one of the least developed states in the country, and Haryana through two development initiatives: Rajiv Gandhi Mahila Vikas Pariyojana (RGMVP) and Indira Gandhi Eye Hospital and Research Centre (IGEHRC).

RGMVP is the largest social mobilisation programme for women's empowerment in Uttar Pradesh with its work impacting 42 districts. It organises women to harness their individual and collective potentials as change agents, enabling them to facilitate poverty reduction by disrupting hierarchy and changing the power relations so that they feel empowered to claim their rightful place as equal citizens in society. IGEHRC, the largest provider of quality eye care in Uttar Pradesh, covers 12 districts and provides affordable eye care, especially to poor people, to eliminate avoidable blindness. It also operates in Sohna, Haryana, targeting the backward Mewat region.

In the last 13 years, the Trust has worked tirelessly to help millions of the poorest people to overcome poverty, social exclusion, and mitigating circumstances to lead productive lives. It has supported them in gaining access to social and economic opportunities by facilitating linkages to markets, delivery systems, and rights and entitlements. RGCT's unique models of scaling up and sustainability ensure inclusion of last mile populations into the mainstream. In the process, the Trust has built up teams whose professional competence contributes significantly to cost-effective and innovative delivery of services to the poor. Internally, the Trust has evolved into a result-oriented, ethical and transparent organisation that seeks to maximise the impact of all available resources and is fully accountable to all its stakeholders.

Vision

To strive for an equitable and just society by opening the doors of opportunity for the self-advancement of the poor and the deprived

Governance

RGCT has set itself challenging goals that aim to ensure that the benefits of its Projects reach the largest number of the underprivileged in the shortest time possible. Strategies and short- and long-term goals, therefore, give primacy to scalability and sustainability of its Projects.

The Trust has processes in place that safeguard the efficiency of its operations, reliability of financial data and compliance with mandatory rules and regulations. Transparency and effective management are assured through clearly laid down policies, an effective organisational structure, and procedures for supervision and accountability.

The Trust believes in making informed decisions. Using Information and Communication Technology (ICT), significant parameters and processes are measured and regularly reviewed to gauge the effectiveness and impact of its development interventions.

RGCT also believes in collaboration and cooperation with like-minded partners to achieve its vision. It actively seeks support from organisations and individuals that can contribute to making its long-term goals a reality.

Board of Trustees

Mrs. Sonia Gandhi

Chairperson

Mrs. Sonia Gandhi is President of the Indian National Congress, Chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance in the Lok Sabha and the leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party. She is the wife of former Prime Minister of India, Shri Rajiv Gandhi.

Mr. Rahul Gandhi

Mr. Rahul Gandhi is the Vice President of the Indian National Congress and the Chairperson of the Indian Youth Congress and the National Students Union of India. He is the son of Shri Rajiv Gandhi. He is also Member of Parliament for Amethi, Uttar Pradesh.

Dr. Ashok Ganguly

Business Executive

Dr. Ashok Ganguly is Member of Rajya Sabha and associated with a number of enterprises. He has been Director of the Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India and is also member of Prime Minister's Council on Trade and Industry and the National Knowledge Commission, amongst others. Dr. Ganguly is the recipient of the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award, and the Economic Times Lifetime Achievement Award.

Mr. Bansi Mehta

Chartered Accountant

Mr. Mehta is a Chartered Accountant and former President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. He is associated with a number of committees and enterprises.

Management

Deep Joshi

Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Deep Joshi was conferred the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2009 and the Padma Shri in 2010.

He co-founded Professional Assistance for Development Action (PRADAN), a not-for-profit organisation that recruits young professionals to work for social change at the grassroots level. He worked with PRADAN in various capacities for over two decades until his retirement in 2007.

Mr. Joshi also advises the Government of India on poverty alleviation strategies and was a member of the Working Group on Rainfed Areas for the 11th Five Year Planning Commission, Government of India. He has also worked as the Chairman of the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) since October 2012.

He is an alumnus of the Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology (MNNIT), Allahabad and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA.

Dr. Anil Tara

An ophthalmic surgeon and clinician with 28 years of experience, Dr. Tara has conducted more than 1,00,000 cataract surgeries, over 50,000 Phacoemulsification surgeries and 10,000 plus Glaucoma surgeries. He is well-versed in the latest modalities of medical and surgical management, in addition to having experience in other fields such as paediatric ophthalmology, squint and occuloplasty.

He is a member of the editorial board on Cataract, Delhi Ophthalmic Journal and has faculty experience with DNB and Para Medic Training programmes. Dr. Tara has rich management experience in running hospitals in a sustainable manner. He has worked as Medical Director with Eye 7 Hospital Private Limited, New Delhi; as CEO with Venu Eye Institute & Research Centre, Delhi; at Gandhi Eye Hospital, Aligarh; Dr. RML Hospital Delhi and Moolchand Hospital, Delhi, prior to joining IGEHRC.

Mr. Mohanan

State Programme Director, Rajiv Gandhi Mahila Vikas Pariyojana

Mr. Mohanan is responsible for the strategy, management and evaluation of all programme activities of RGMVP. He served as General Manager of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) before joining RGMVP. He has a working experience of over 36 years in various positions in the Reserve Bank of India and NABARD. He has expertise in areas such as development banking, credit planning and monitoring, rural development, organisation development interventions (ODI) and bank supervision. He was involved in microfinance and SHG development in India in various capacities at NABARD since the introduction of the concept by NABARD in 1992. He was also part of the NABARD team which associated with the design and formulation of the successful Kudumbashree Programme in Kerala. He also has international exposure of microfinance in Bangladesh, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. He had also conducted impact evaluation studies on SHG bank linkages in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra and had held the position of Member of Faculty in Bankers Institute for Rural Development (BIRD) for five years. Upon retirement from NABARD, he joined RGMVP in May 2012.

Shantanam D. Sinha

Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Sinha is a qualified Chartered Accountant and has a post graduate degree in Commerce. He has over 20 years of work experience, a significant part of which has been with the not-for-profit sector. He has proven expertise in financial management, operations and controls in management of large projects with pan-India operations. His core strength includes managing complex budgets, donor relations, governance issues, strengthening and simplifying systems and procedures. Prior to joining the Trust, he has served in senior leadership positions with the World Health Organization (WHO), National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), American India Foundation (AIF), Population Services International (PSI) and Katha.

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